In packet-based communication networks, one or more packets may not be delivered to the intended recipient causing packet loss throughout the network. Various factors can result in packet loss such as packet damage, signal degradation, network congestion, faulty networking hardware, etc.
Depending on the type of application running on the intended recipient device, packet loss can result in significant performance issues. Non-delay sensitive applications such as email, SMS text, etc. can request retransmission of lost packets without introducing performance issues to the receiving user. However, for delay sensitive applications such as streaming video, voice over IP, online gaming, video conferencing, etc., distribution times do not necessarily allow for retransmission requests when packet losses occur. The received data including packet loss can introduce jitter and can lead to undesirable deterioration in communication.
Packet loss within a network can provide an indication of network health. For example, packet loss can indicate that a network node, such as a router, is no longer effectively routing packets throughout the network due to device deficiencies. One way packet loss can be detected is using a plurality of observations points. A first observation node can be associated with the input of the network node. Then all output points of the network node can be monitored. For a multi-path, load distributed network, the network node can have a plurality of output points. Such packet loss monitoring process can use significant resources while still being inaccurate because a packet can successfully be transmitted from an output point of the network node but not be observed being transmitted based on the number of output points that can be monitored simultaneously.